This piece is one of the final commemorative issues authorized under Soviet authority before the USSR formally dissolved in December 1991. The August coup attempt against Gorbachev had already occurred by the time many of these reached distribution, lending the timing an unintentional irony that no mint official could have anticipated.
This piece is one of the final commemorative issues authorized under Soviet authority before the USSR formally dissolved in December 1991. The August coup attempt against Gorbachev had already occurred by the time many of these reached distribution, lending the timing an unintentional irony that no mint official could have anticipated.